1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for controlling the X-ray emission of an X-ray imaging device, and an X-ray imaging device capable of implementing the method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
X-ray imaging devices are used in numerous medical applications. More particularly, these devices are used in interventional radiography, which allows a practitioner to monitor the conducting of a procedure being performed on a patient. Interventional radiology is notably used in vascular surgery in neurology and cancerology.
In these devices, an emitter emits X-rays towards the patient's body, said X-rays then being collected by a detector to allow an image of the patient's body to be obtained. Health regulations require the limiting of unnecessary exposure of patients to X-rays which, at high dose, are harmful for the body.
Optimization of the X-ray dose emitted by the device includes controlling of the emitting parameters of the device, such as the voltage applied to the emitter or the emission frequency. Evidently, a certain emission dose is necessary to obtain an image of sufficient quality for a given application.
Various methods are known in the state of the art for emission control.
According to one control method, the emission parameters are mainly controlled through an estimation of the thickness of the patient's body (known to the person skilled in the art as “Equivalent Patient Thickness”, EPT). This entails an estimation of the thickness of the patient's body which must be passed through to take an image of a region of interest, allowing optimized emission parameters to be deduced therefrom i.e. offering satisfactory image quality whilst limiting the emitted X-ray dose. However, this solution is scarcely precise, not flexible and cannot be adapted to every type of procedures being performed in the patient.
Alternatively, or in addition, it is known to offer the practitioner the possibility, prior to the procedure, of choosing an X-ray emission protocol in which the X-ray dose is specifically optimized for the said procedure. However, this solution offers little advantage since it requires manual selection by the practitioner.
Additionally, a given procedure may comprise different phases. Thus, the selection of a single protocol does not allow optimized control to be obtained over the emission parameters for each phase of the procedure. Manual selection for each phase would also be difficult to implement for the practitioner.
There is therefore a need for a solution allowing an improvement over existing methods and devices.